Introduction to the Atlantis II Environment

Why is the Environment of Atlantis II Interesting?

The undersea environment was once thought to be a barren and lifeless place, a place that had no life or activity. It was also thought to be flat and featureless, unlike the land on the world's continents and islands. However, advances in modern science as well as revolutions in technology have led to a better understanding of the deep sea universe.

Through the use of sonar and underwater manned vehicles, the ocean floor is no longer seen as a featureless and lifeless terrain. Although the conditions on the ocean bottom are more extreme than in most environments, it can be seen that life finds a way to survive. In pressures close to 300 atmospheres, communities of organisms thrive and flourish. Even in an environment clearly lacking an abundance of light, food webs involving several organisms make use of chemosynthetic energy harnessed by bacteria rather than photosynthetic energy.

Thus, our conceptions of the ocean bottom have been dramatically altered in the past century through the use of rudimentary methods of exploration. Who knows what new advances in exploration will bring to the already growing bank of knowledge concerning the sea.

The construction of Atlantis II is the next step in our quest to understand the ocean. In designing a system to do that, it is important to have a basic understanding of what the vent environment is like. Soon one finds that the vent environment influences every aspect of the project from research to designs to the scientists' survival.

Continue to Locale: The Edmond Vent System